Ceiling and wall mounted lights have used mechanical pull chains which require the user to physically pull on the chain to turn a mechanical spring biased switch in the fixture on and off. However, there are problems with these chains.
The mechanical pull chains on these raised light fixtures have problems with the internal components of the mechanical switch wearing out and becoming less reliable or failing entirely. The mechanical pull chain switch uses springs and contactors to switch from on too low to medium to high to off. Mechanical pull chain switches don't work well because they rely on mechanical system components that wear out over time. The springs in the mechanical pull chain switches lose strength and weaken over time. Additionally, the contact points in the mechanical pull chain switches become warped or burnt and eventually will not function properly.
These mechanical type pull chain switches are also problematic to operate for people with lessened dexterity in their hands, such as the elderly and the like. As such selected people are not able to reach, grab, hold and even pull the chains.
Dimming controls for lamps have been used over the years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,876 to Skarman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,708 to Roudeski; Reissued Pat. Re. 33,285 to Kunen, and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0159267 to Hao. However, these devices are limited to surfaces that are primary on tabletop lamp bases. As such, this technology would not be practical and useful for wall mounted lamps and especially on overhead lamps which are generally out of reach.
Other types of dimming controls for overhead lights have been proposed over the years such as remote controls for ceiling fans having light fixtures. However, remote controls have additional problems. For example, the battery power supply in a remote control runs out of power after a period of time, and requires either battery replacement or recharging the battery.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.